THE EUROPEAN COURT of Justice has ruled that food products from Israeli-occupied territories, particularly those from settlements, must now be labelled as such.

The EU’s top court said that, under rules on food labelling, it must be clear where products come from so consumers can make choices based on “ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law”.

The ruling comes after France’s top tribunal asked for clarification of rules on labelling goods from the West Bank, which the international community considers occupied Palestinian land, as well as the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in 1967.

“Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance,” the ECJ said in a statement announcing its decision.

France published guidelines in 2016 saying products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights must carry labels making their precise origin clear.

However, this was challenged by the Organisation Juive Europeene (European Jewish Organisation) and Psagot, a company that runs vineyards in occupied territories.

The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Saeb Erekat, welcomed the ruling but urged the EU to go further.

“Our demand is not only for the correct labelling reflecting the certificate of origin of products coming from illegal colonial settlements, but for the banning of those products from international markets.”

But a spokeswoman for the European Commission said that the ruling did not change the bloc’s “fundamental support for the security of Israel”.

“The EU does not support any form of boycott or sanctions against Israel and the EU rejects attempts by the campaigns of the so-called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement to isolate Israel,” Mina Andreeva said.

‘Ethical considerations’

The court said that labelling products as from the “State of Israel” when in fact they come from territories “occupied by that State” could mislead consumers.

The court added that the EU’s 2011 regulations on labelling the origin of goods are intended to allow consumers to make “informed choices, with regard not only to health, economic, environmental and social considerations, but also to ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law”.

“The court underlined in that respect that such considerations could influence consumers’ purchasing decisions,” the ECJ said.

On the issue of Israeli settlements, the court said “they give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that State outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law”.

As a result, “the omission of that indication, with the result that only the territory of origin is indicated, might mislead consumers”, the court said.

But Francois-Henri Briard, the lawyer for Psagot, condemned the ruling, saying it catered to “political prejudices”.

“If such labelling is applied to Israeli products, surely it will also need to be applied to scores of other countries around the world who could be argued to be in violation of international law,” he said in a statement.

The 2016 French ruling drew an angry response from Israel, which accused Paris of aiding a boycott and of double standards by ignoring other territorial disputes around the world.

In Ireland, a proposed bill – which is currently stalled in the Dáil – would prohibit the import of all goods and services from illegally occupied territories.

The government believes the so-called Occupied Territories Bill would contravene European trade law, and it has become the subject of a so-called ‘money message’, preventing its passage to committee stage.

With reporting from - © AFP 2019